Knockdown box or crate



J1me 1940- -A. c. FRIEDEL 03,625

KNO CKDOWN BOX QR CRATE F iled Feb. 28, 1938 I NVENT DR ARTHUR L" HE'IEDEL BY M MW ATT EIR'HEYS Patented June 4, 1940 l v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

KNooKnoWN BOX oRoRA'rE Arthur C. Friedel, Syracuse, N. Y, assignor to J. FJFriedel Paper Box Company, Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application. February as, 1938, Serial No. 193.051

1 Claim.

This inventionrelates to improvements in a knockdown box or crate adapted to be used more particularly for the reception, for transportation or storage, of various dry products such as parts or units of a manufactured article, pieces of waste material, or refuse et cetera.

The invention pertains more particularly to a receptacle, often called a stacker-basket, of the class disclosed in my United StatesLetters Patent No 1,220,621, issued March 27, 1917. The structure shown 6 in thispatentcomprises a top frame, a bottom frame, corner posts. and side panels all of which are releasably secured together to form a box or crate by tie-rods connecting corresponding corhers of the top and bottom frames. The crate or stacker-basket thus constructed is not only comparatively inexpensive but is light, strong and durable so that the same may be easily moved from place to place. Furthermore the tierods are secured in operative relation with the top and bottom frames by suitable nuts so that the crate or basket may.

be quickly and easily collapsed into a relatively small, compact bundleor package for economy in shipment or storage when empty. i

It has been found that when the top and bottomframes have the side rails and corner plates constructed and secured together in the manner shown and described in my Patent No. 1,220,621 mentioned above, the side rails frequently become loose in the corner plates and are often disconnected therefrom and thus render the stacker-basketor crate of littleuse before the sides and bottom members are worn out.

vide top and bottom frames for a knockdown box, crate or stacker-basket of an improved construction without appreciably increasing the cost or labor of its construction whereby the life and usefulness of the frames and therefore of the box or crate is greatly increased. A more specific object of the invention is to provide the corner plates and the rails with ribs andrecesses extending transversely of the rails adapted to co-operate with each other for fixedly holding the rails against outward longitudinal movement with respect to the corner plates after said rails and cornerplates have been assembled together. c i a I attain these objects by the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawingin which:

Figure 1 i is a perspective View of a box or stacker-basket embodying the features of this invention.

i The main object of this invention is to pro- Figure 2 is an exploded" perspective view illustrating a corner post, a side panel, a bottom member and: the side. rails of the top and bottom frames adjacent said post, portions of said members being broken away and in section.

Figure 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view taken substantially in the plane of line 3-3, Figure 1, a corner portionof the bottom member being broken away. i

Figure; is a vertical sectional view partly broken away taken on line 4- 1, Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a detail transverse vertical sectionalyiew taken on line 5-5, Figure 3.

Figure ,6 is a perspective view of one of the corner plates.

The box or stacker-basket illustrated in the drawing is a substantially rectangular member and comprises similar top and bottom frames 1 and I, four corner posts 2, side panels 3, and a bottom member 4, They side panels 2 and bottom l are preferably composed of pasteboard, a pressed wood composition such as that sold un-- der the trade name of Masonite, or equivalent comparatively light, strong, and inexpensive rnaterial.

The top and bottom frames l and l are substantially identical in size and construction. Each of these frames consists of a plurality of, in this instance four; similarrails tone for each side of the box and fourrnetal corner plates '5 for connecting or coupling the adjacent ends of the rails together and also for coupling the corners of such frames to the adjacent ends of the corner posts 2. i

The corner posts 2 and rails 8 are preferably made of relatively narrow strips of wood for lightness and cheapness of manufacture. The corner posts 2 are, as shown, angular in crosssection to provide substantially rectangular recesses 8 extending longitudinally ofthe posts for the reception of adjacent vertical edges of the side panels 3. i

The rails 6 are provided with length-wise channels 9 extending from end to end in one side thereof for receiving the adjacent longitudinal edges of the side panels 3 whereby the side portions of the rails adjacent said channels willmaintain thepanels against inward and outward deflection.

The lengths of. the corner posts 2 are preferably'substantially equal to the height of the box so asto extend from the plane of the upper surfacesof the side rails 6 of the top frame I to the plane of the lower surfaces of the rails 6 in the bottom frame I as illustrated in Figure 4, 55

10 extending, in this instance, at right angles to each other. Each arm is provided withinner and outer side walls or flanges H and l I extending outwardly from 'one"side thereof substantially normal thereto and which provide channels l2 extending inwardly length-wise of the arms from the outer *ends thereof. channels are of substantially the same, width as the side rails 6 to receive the corresponding end portion of the adjacent siderails therein. The

side of eachplate from which the walls II and H extend is formedwith 'a rec-tangularsocket l3- intermediate channels [2 and which is defined from said channels by ribs orbraces M formed integral with the inner and outer side walls or flanges l l and l l' for the reception of an end of a corresponding corner post 2.

Portions of the inner and outer side walls or flanges ll andll are-elongated transversely to ,form gripping fingersJB of greater length or depth from the base of the corresponding arms Ill than the thicknessof the portions of the rails G to be received in the channels l2, so that, when therails are placed in their respective channels l2 with one side resting against the base of the corner plate, the portions ofthe gripping fingers 15 which project beyond the opposite sides of the rails may be'bent over and upon such sides, as

illustrated in Figure 3, so as to firmly hold the rails in contact with the base of the plate.

The construction thus far defined is substantially the same as that shown and described in my above mentioned Patent No. 1,220,621 and the novel features of this invention will now be described. 1 i

In order that the rails 6 will be fixedly held. in their respective channels 12 against outward lengthwise movement from beneath the gripping fingers I5 I have provided each arm ll] of the corner'plates with a rib H formed integral therewith and which extends transversely through the corresponding channel IZ'intermed'late the ends thereof between the side walls II and H, as illustrated in Figure 6. Each rail 6 is provided with a pair of grooves 18 in the side thereof opposite the channels 9. These grooves l8 extend transversely of the rails and are adapted to receive a corresponding rib Il therein when said end of the rails is secured in the corresponding channel l2 by the gripping finger IS. The grooves 48 are'spaced from the adjacent ends of the rails 6 a distance substantiallyequal to the distance between a rib I1 and the adjacent side of the corresponding socket I 3 so that, when the rails are secured in their respective channels l2, the ends thereof will register with the adjacentsides of the corresponding sockets l3 and abut against the adjacent edge of the corner p'o-st received in said socket and tend tostiffen the entire frame whenthecorner'plates l andcorn'er posts 2 are assembled in operative relation with each other.

[In order that the ends ofthe rails 6 may abut firmly against theadjacen't'edge's of the corner posts *2 the rails are provided with-the usual These transverse rabbets' or recesses 20 at the ends thereof to receive the ribs M.

In forming either the top or bottom frames a plurality of rails 6, corresponding in number to the sides of the box, are placed with their ends in the channels l2 of a corresponding number of corner plates I. These corner plates are supported upon a flat surface and the rails are positioned with the grooves I8 receiving corresponding ribs H which automatically positions the adjacent ends of the rails in proper aligned relation with the corresponding socket 13 so that when the: frame is assembled with the corner posts 2 of said ends of the side rails will abut against the adjacent edges of the corner posts.

The outer ends of each pair of gripping fingers l5 are next bent inwardly toward each other and upon-the adjacent side of the railsopposite that which rest upon the base of the corner plates. This bending operation of the gripping fingers serves to tightly clamp the .wood railsto the corner plates and to co-operate with the ribs 1.! for fixedly securing the rails and plates .to each other without the use of nails, screws or'other fastening means. It is thus .seen that each bottom and top frame is a substantially rigid member and comprises only a pluralityof side rails, depending in number upon the number of sides of the box, and the corresponding number of cornerplates. 1.

The top and bottom frames are assembled in the conventional manner with the side panels 3 by first placing the bottom frameupon a suitable support with the channels9 of the side rails facing upwardly. The corner posts 2 and the side panels 3 are then placed in position with the lower ends of the posts resting in the sockets it of the bottom frame and the lowerlongitudinal edges of the side panels resting in the corresponding channels 9, while the vertical side edges of the panels are seated in the recesses il provided in the inner sides of the corner posts.

The upperirame is next assembled with the posts and side panels with the upper ends of the posts registering in the sockets I 3 thereof and with the upper longitudinal edges of the. side panels 3 registering in the corresponding channels 9. The lower and upper framesarethen firmly drawn against the ends of the posts by means ofitie rods 2| passing through apertures 22 formed in the bases of the corner plates I, each rod being providedwith a head 23 atone end and at its other end with an internally threaded sleeve or not 24. Each nut-i orv sleeve 24 may, as shown, be provided with a. slot 25 ,for the reception of a screw-driver by which it may be turned upon the adjacent threaded end of the main portion of the tie-rod.

The apertures 22 in the corner plates 1 are so arranged as to register withthe recesses 8 of adjacent posts. These apertures. are so spaced from the outer corners of the sockets l3 that the tie-rods will be sufficiently spaced from the bases v l may, as shown,- be provided with raised bosses 26 which surround the corresponding apertures 22, said bosses being provided with sockets in which the adjacent heads ofthe tie-rods are seated and protected by the outer flanges of the bosses. The bosses 26 on the bottom frame not only provide feet for the box, but may be, as

shown, of greater diameter than the bosses on the corner plates of the top frame so that when the boxes are stacked one upon the other they will telescope the boss of the upper frame to hold a board and is of substantially the same area as e the side panels 3.

the interior of the box. This bottom member may be inserted in the box just prior to the mounting of the top frame upon the posts 2 and The bottom- 4 is positioned with the marginal edges thereof resting upon the inner adjacent surfaces of the side rails 6 of the bottom frame.

The parts of the box maybe readily collapsed by simply detaching the nuts 24 from the tie-rods and then withdrawing said rods, whereupon the upper frame, corner posts, and side panels may be separated one from each other and from the bottom frame and all of these parts may be laid fiatwise upon the bottom frame within a relatively small space, or, if necessary, the rails of both frames may be detached fromthe corner plates by simply loosening the gripping fingers I and then withdrawing the rails from the respective channels.

I claim:

In an end frame of a knockdown box or crate, a set of rails one for each side of the frame, and corner plates for coupling adjacent ends of the rails to each other, each of said corner plates comprising arms arranged in angular relation to each other, each arm having inner and outer side walls extending laterally from one side thereof in spaced relation to each other to form a channel receiving the adjacent end of the corresponding rail, said side walls having extensions at the upper or free edges thereof bent inwardly toward each other providing gripping fingers frictionally engaging adjacent portions of the bar, said arms also having upstanding projections rising from the plane of the bottom wall thereof and in the vertical plane of the gripping fingers extending into the corresponding channels, said rails having grooves in one side thereof receiving a corresponding arm projection therein for maintaining therails against longitudinal movement in said channels with respect to the corner plate and to each other.

ARTHUR C. FRIEDEL. 

